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Houseboats - anyone know anything about them?
DrewKaree:
Now, obviously it's a lot smaller than a house, and some of those "creature comforts" you're used to now wouldn't be advisable (like a big screen), but I'm wondering how it'd be to own one - are there taxes on 'em (other than a boating license) or anything you wouldn't think of?
I know a slip fee would prolly apply if there was no way to launch, and gas to move the boat around, but...well, has anyone owned one, thought about buying one, will buy one, or currently own one? Mebbe if I could find a nice 1500 sq ft houseboat I'll buy one of those instead of a house and avoid the property taxes ::)
daywane:
I have had 2.
I doubt they were like the ones you are talking about.
Mine was HUGE pontoon boats. I added on trailers to them
I did not have a slip at the time I would just drive down to the river and put in.
taxes were not as bad as I had feared.
slept 6 people comfortable.
actually live in one. Not for me. winter would be bad. real bad around here.
ChadTower:
I've known a few people who had them in NS. Winters WERE bad. Really bad. So were storms. How you gonna get away when a big storm is coming and your house is in the water? They are prone to breakins. You would think that being away from shore would solve that but no, people boat over and break in.
Crazy Cooter:
Arrr. Pirates you say?
A friends dad had one. It was cool but drank gas like you were just pouring it on the ground. He had a slip but stored it out of water over the winter. It was cramped, but a single dude in a warm place could drop a few arcade cabinets in there and be happy. If you don't mind a camper, a houseboat would be fine. Grab a secured slip on a river for best results.
DrewKaree:
Yeah, winter would be an issue by me as well, plus the houseboat would get "frozen in", but I'm not actually thinking of a year-round thing unless it were someplace warmer. If it were just in WI, storms aren't really an issue - the bigguns don't really rock us here.
Dawayne, the two I've seen slept about that many. For some reason, I've got a BYOHB picture in my mind of the ones you homebrewed, and these seemed more "professional-ized".
It was hard at first to get used to the movement when you were trying to go to sleep. I kept thinking I was gonna eventually fall out of bed or something ;D